Le Matin (France)
Encyclopedia
Le Matin was a French
daily newspaper created in 1883 and discontinued in 1944.
Le Matin was launched on the initiative of Chamberlain & Co, a group of American financiers, in 1883, on the model of the British daily The Morning News. The direction of the project was entrusted to the French journalist Alfred Edwards
, who launched the first issue on 26 February 1884. His home was then situated in the Xe arrondissement
of Paris
, at 6 boulevard Poissonnière, and his offices at numbers 3 to 9 on the same street.
A few months later, Edwards left Le Matin to found his own journal, Le Matin Français, which soon surpassed the circulation of Le Matin. Later Edwards bought Le Matin and merged the two papers. He modernized the resulting hybrid with the most modern techniques and technologies such as the telegraph, and signed great writers such as Jules Vallès
and the député
Arthur Ranc
. Le Matin was thus favourable to moderate republicans and opposed to Boulangisme and socialist ideas.
Implicated in the Panama scandals
, Edwards re-sold the newspaper in 1895 to the banker and advertiser Henri Poidatz, who invested considerably in advertising in it. The journal was particularly notable during the Dreyfus affair
, as early as 1896 questioning the withheld evidence against the officer accused of treason and publishing (in July 1899) the confessions of commandant Esterhazy
. In May 1899, the newspaper's price rose to 5 centimes, like the majority of papers in this era, and its number of pages rose from 4 to 6.
The same year the businessman Maurice Bunau-Varilla
, at first one of the paper's shareholders, joined its board of directors, becoming its president in 1901. Borne along by effective advertising, by the catchy tone of its articles and its brave reporting, Le Matin continued to increase its circulation, from 100,000 copies in 1900 to around 700,000 in 1910 and more than a million around 1914. Le Matin was thus one of the four biggest daily French newspapers in the period before the World War I
, employing 150 journalists such as Gaston Leroux
, Michel Zevaco
and Albert Londres
, along with 500 technicians and workers. In 1918, it made the first recorded use of jazband (French for a jazz band), and was subsequently cited in both Über englisches Sprachgut im Französischen and Grand Larousse Dictionnaire de la Langue Française although they mis-typed the date as 1908. Also in the inter-war period the paper had the Russian-exile cartoonist Alex Gard
on its staff.
Its political leanings moved progressively towards nationalism
and, after the World War I, openly anti-parliamentary and anti-Communist. It approved of collaborationist
policies in June 1940 and adopted a pro-Nazi line before disappearing on 17 August 1944, a few days after the death of Bunau-Varilla.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
daily newspaper created in 1883 and discontinued in 1944.
Le Matin was launched on the initiative of Chamberlain & Co, a group of American financiers, in 1883, on the model of the British daily The Morning News. The direction of the project was entrusted to the French journalist Alfred Edwards
Alfred Edwards (journalist)
Alfred Charles Edwards was a journalist and magnate of the French press.-Life:The son of Charles Edwards and his French wife Emilie Caporal , Alfred Edwards studied in Paris before beginning his press career with Le Figaro in...
, who launched the first issue on 26 February 1884. His home was then situated in the Xe arrondissement
Xe arrondissement
The 10th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the right bank of the River Seine, the arrondissement contains two of Paris's six main railway stations: the Gare du Nord and the Gare de l'Est...
of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, at 6 boulevard Poissonnière, and his offices at numbers 3 to 9 on the same street.
A few months later, Edwards left Le Matin to found his own journal, Le Matin Français, which soon surpassed the circulation of Le Matin. Later Edwards bought Le Matin and merged the two papers. He modernized the resulting hybrid with the most modern techniques and technologies such as the telegraph, and signed great writers such as Jules Vallès
Jules Vallès
Jules Vallès was a French journalist and author.-Early life:Vallès was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire. His father was a supervisor of studies , later a teacher, and unfaithful to Jules' mother. Jules was a brilliant student...
and the député
Chamber of Deputies of France
Chamber of Deputies was the name given to several parliamentary bodies in France in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries:* 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the Lower chamber of the French Parliament, elected by census suffrage.*...
Arthur Ranc
Arthur Ranc
Arthur Ranc was a French leftwing politician and writer.Born at Poitiers, Vienne, he was educated for the law...
. Le Matin was thus favourable to moderate republicans and opposed to Boulangisme and socialist ideas.
Implicated in the Panama scandals
Panama scandals
The Panama scandals was a corruption affair that broke out in the French Third Republic in 1892, linked to the building of the Panama Canal...
, Edwards re-sold the newspaper in 1895 to the banker and advertiser Henri Poidatz, who invested considerably in advertising in it. The journal was particularly notable during the Dreyfus affair
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
, as early as 1896 questioning the withheld evidence against the officer accused of treason and publishing (in July 1899) the confessions of commandant Esterhazy
Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy
Charles Marie Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy was a commissioned officer in the French armed forces during the second half of the 19th century who has gained notoriety as a spy for the German Empire and the actual perpetrator of the act of treason for which Captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully accused...
. In May 1899, the newspaper's price rose to 5 centimes, like the majority of papers in this era, and its number of pages rose from 4 to 6.
The same year the businessman Maurice Bunau-Varilla
Maurice Bunau-Varilla
Maurice Bunau-Varilla was a French press magnate, and proprietor of the newspaper Le Matin. During the Second World War, he made the newspaper's editorial line pro-German and pro-collaborationist, and it ceased publication 16 days after his death...
, at first one of the paper's shareholders, joined its board of directors, becoming its president in 1901. Borne along by effective advertising, by the catchy tone of its articles and its brave reporting, Le Matin continued to increase its circulation, from 100,000 copies in 1900 to around 700,000 in 1910 and more than a million around 1914. Le Matin was thus one of the four biggest daily French newspapers in the period before the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, employing 150 journalists such as Gaston Leroux
Gaston Leroux
Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera , which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon...
, Michel Zevaco
Michel Zevaco
Michel Zevaco was a French journalist, novelist, publisher, film director, and anti-clerical as well as anarchist activist....
and Albert Londres
Albert Londres
Albert Londres was a French journalist and writer. One of the inventors of investigative journalism, he criticized abuses of colonialism such as forced labour. Albert Londres gave his name to a journalism prize for Francophone journalists.- Biography :Londres was born in Vichy in 1884...
, along with 500 technicians and workers. In 1918, it made the first recorded use of jazband (French for a jazz band), and was subsequently cited in both Über englisches Sprachgut im Französischen and Grand Larousse Dictionnaire de la Langue Française although they mis-typed the date as 1908. Also in the inter-war period the paper had the Russian-exile cartoonist Alex Gard
Alex Gard
Alex Gard , born Alexey Kremkoff in Kazan, Russia, was a cartoonist. He contributed weekly drawings to the drama section of The New York Herald Tribune, and was hired to create caricatures of Broadway and other celebrities at Sardi's Restaurant in New York City.Restaurant owner, Vincent Sardi, and...
on its staff.
Its political leanings moved progressively towards nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and, after the World War I, openly anti-parliamentary and anti-Communist. It approved of collaborationist
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
policies in June 1940 and adopted a pro-Nazi line before disappearing on 17 August 1944, a few days after the death of Bunau-Varilla.
See also
- Le Pays de FranceLe Pays de FranceLe Pays de France, subtitled Organe des états généraux du tourisme , was a French newspaper of the First World War. It originated in a monthly paper edited by Le Matin and intended for promotion of tourism. As a monthly it only lasted for 3 issues, with the first on 10 May 1914 and the last in...
, weekly newspaper edited by Le Matin during the World War I.
External links
Photographs of Le Matin front pages- Le Matin issues from 1882 to 1884 and from 1905 to 1944 and also from 1885 to 1904 in Gallica, the digital libray of the BnFBNFBNF may stand for:In science:*Biological nitrogen fixation, a process that converts nitrogen in the atmosphere to ammonia*British National Formulary, the standard drug reference manual**British National Formulary for Children...
.